Sealed With A Kiss
by Moonlight Silhouette
Summary: *Lent. The forty days before Easter where it is expected to deny yourself of something you love. Usually, I played it safe; This year, however, I can see myself suffering.* Jesse De Silva is dared to give up the one thing he learns means the most to him.
1. Day One

**A.N - Hey guys, my internet is back. And to celebrate, a new story! I have a good feeling about this one. I liked writing it, at least.**

**Let me know what you think?**

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**Day One**

Lent. The forty days before Easter where it is expected to deny yourself of something you love. Many a time my sisters have chosen to give up chocolate and suffered tremendously for their efforts. It seems they can hardly _live_ without chocolate.

Usually, I played it safe, not being quite as daring as my younger sisters.

This year, however, I can see myself suffering. Spending the next forty days - and nights - without …

It was a thought too horrible to consider. Yet, it has to be done.

Thanks to my wonderful, cherished, oldest younger sister Marta - whom should expect to be on the receiving end of many a glare, if I actually choose to communicate with her at all in the next six weeks.

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_One Week Earlier_

_It was a typical afternoon in the life of the De Silva students. Marta and myself had finished all of our classes for the day, and were now watching old television re-runs - those game shows from the '90's._

_The door opened suddenly, and we both turned to look at the entrance._

"_Hey," Susannah Simon greeted cheerfully with a wave, sliding her bag off her shoulder before walking towards me on the chair. "Sorry I'm late. My English professor would **not** stop talking."_

_I opened my arms to my girlfriend and she gratefully sank into my embrace, curled in my lap as I kissed her cheek and wrapped my arms around her. I loved how she felt in my arms._

_Together, we turned to look at the show Marta was engrossed in, having barely shot a 'Hey, Suze!' over her shoulder before returning to the television set, and I found myself staring at Susannah's beautiful face. Her chestnut curls were pulled back into a loose ponytail today, a few tendrils framing her face having fallen free of their scrunchie-prison on the journey here. Her emerald eyes were framed by long, dark eyelashes and her ruby lips were practically sinful with temptation._

"_Jesse?" Susannah muttered, never once turning her head away from the set in front of her. "Is there a reason that you're staring at me?"_

_I shook my head quickly with a small chuckle._

"_Not particularly," I responded. "Just that you are **so** beautiful."_

_My querida blushed prettily and turned to lock her eyes with mine._

"_You jest." She accused of me, slowly moving closer towards my lips._

"_I do not." I moved my lips to her ear and kissed the part of her soft, sweet-smelling skin just below her earlobe. "I only speak the truth."_

_My last words came out in a deep whisper and I was not surprised to see Susannah shiver slightly._

_I was even less surprised to find her lips fused to my own less then a second later._

_Kissing Susannah was like getting a small taste of heaven. It was just … perfect. Her silky, warm lips against mine whilst her hands clutched at my shirt - more often then not - possessively sent a shiver through my spine as I spanned one hand against the small of her back whilst the other gently rested behind her head, keeping her to me._

_Even though she was four years my junior, Susannah's kisses were amazing._

_When we pulled apart, our foreheads touched as we remained locked in each other's eyes, trying to catch our breath quietly._

"_Ugh," I heard a snort of disgust coming from the girl on the floor. "Get a room."_

"_We have one already, darling sister," I quipped, throwing a cushion towards her half-heartedly, which she managed to dodge. "You just happen to be in it."_

"_Whatever," she rolled her dark eyes at me and shook her dark head before turning her attention to her best friend. "Don't tell me you can actually stand him **mauling** you like that, Suze?"_

_I'd always found Suze to be an absurd nick-name. There was nothing wrong with Susannah. It fit my querida more. A respectable lady's name. My Susannah …_

"_Of course I can!" She cried, looking at her friend in horror. I grinned and sat her more firmly in my lap. "For shame, Marta." She was grinning now, in spite of herself. "I know you hate to admit it and such, but, your brother is easy on the eyes."_

"_Hey!" I protested. "Are you saying that I'm your trophy boyfriend?"_

"_Mm-hmm," she replied lazily. "The hot, junior boyfriend to boost my popularity in this school. Don't worry, I'll have moved onto a senior by June."_

_A sound I am ashamed to say sounded suspiciously like a growl escaped my throat as I kissed Susannah's neck slowly._

"_I should be a senior - I'm old enough." I reminded her._

"_It's not my fault you decided to be all tourist-y and visit Europe for a year."_

_I silenced her with a kiss, my lips easily sliding over hers once again._

"_There you go again!" Marta stood up and glared at the two of us. "I'm starting to regret introducing you to each other."_

_There was a brief moment of silence as Susannah and I, wisely, chose to not respond to my sisters comments, and as my sister obviously thought up a solution._

"_Hey, Jess," she began, childishly drawing out my name. "Lent begins next week."_

_I nodded slowly, not seeing her point._

"_What you giving up?"_

"_I don't know yet," I admitted with a shrug, lightly brushing Susannah's shoulder as I did so. "I'm thinking, maybe, TV?"_

_Marta shook her head happily, a broad smile stretching across her face._

"_Nope," she told me. "That's too easy. I dare you to stop kissing Susannah."_

_My mouth fell open in shock as Susannah stared at her friend in disbelief._

"_Stop kissing Susannah?" I repeated. "For forty days?"_

"_Yep," Marta giggled evilly, happy with her plan. "And nights."_

"_Oh, come on!" Susannah objected. "Why do I have to suffer too?"_

_Marta sighed._

"_Well, it takes two to tango, and it's all **really** getting on my nerves."_

"_Just you wait until you get a boyfriend." I heard Susannah mumble quietly and chuckled._

"_Jesse, you can't actually be thinking about this?" Susannah asked. "Can you?"_

_It was Marta who answered for me._

"_Jesse has **never** backed down from a dare." She informed my girlfriend. "Never."_

"_It's true." I shrugged. "Okay, fine. I'll give up kissing Susannah for Lent."

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Needless to say, Susannah was not impressed with me, or my sister.

There were rules in place, of course. After all, Susannah isn't Christian, nor Catholic like myself, and therefore didn't have to give up anything. It was for that reason that Susannah was still allowed to kiss me - anywhere but my lips. We were allowed to remain in contact with each - holding hands, sharing seats, you know, couple things - but I was not allowed to kiss Susannah at all.

For the next forty days.

Starting now.


	2. Day Two

**A.N - I did tell you guys that this would be cheesy right? Seriously, you will be cringing at some of the stuff that is being written. Hehe. Thanks so much for the reviews you gave the first chapter. Hope you like this one just as much. xD**

**-- Meg**

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**Day Two**

This. Was. Torture.

It shouldn't be torture, of course. Susannah - my beautiful querida - was sitting on my lap comfortably, knees curled to her chin as she rested her head on my chest, just above my heart. My arms were banded around her, holding her to me as her chestnut curls softly brushed against my chin and tickled my neck.

Normally, I'd kiss her. My lips would find her temple and linger there for a moment just basking in the way she felt against me. Susannah would respond with a chaste kiss of her own - on the column of my neck, maybe - and the kiss war would begin.

Instead, I was living the purest form of hell because, of course, I couldn't kiss her.

I'd never been so tense before - so edgy. I swear, kissing Susannah was good for my health. My sister is slowly killing me by making me go through with this. She _knows_ I don't back down from a dare. It's how I got the scar on my eyebrow - being dared to stare an angry dog in the face for five whole minutes at the age of fourteen. I failed that dare; it only took one and a half for the dog to bite me.

Marta took this opportunity to walk into my room without knocking. I should really impose that as a rule - she never knows what she could be walking in on …

Although the small smirk on her face tells me that she knows she's safe, for the next forty - no, _thirty-nine_ - days, at least.

"Ah," she sighed, her shoulder bag thumping on the floor almost silently. "What's that I hear? Blissful silence?"

"Doesn't have to be," Susannah fixed her best friend with a glare.

"Is that an invitation to turn on the TV?" She smiled at us before switching on the small device on a table opposite the chair Susannah and I were on.

"_No_." I hissed at her.

Seriously, no one was happy with this rule she'd enforced upon us. I refused to acknowledge that I could have prevented this from happening. It was a poor lapse of judgement that I've regretted ever since.

"It's a request for you to leave." Susannah finished for me.

"Why?" She smiled, deceptively sweet, as her dark curls tumbled down from her ponytail. "So you guys can go back to the heavy make-out session I just _know _you were participating in before I got here."

The comment was practically malicious in its intent. Marta was just lucky Susannah knew her so well, otherwise I knew that my girlfriend would have put up a fight.

Instead, Susannah shrugged and tucked her head under my chin once again, her left hand resting on my chest as her right came up to twist in the curls at the nape of my neck.

My grip around her tightened.

"Querida." I mumbled almost painfully. She had no idea how hard it was for me to not be kissing her beautiful, soft, tasty lips right now.

"Shh, Jesse." She winked at me with laughter in her voice. "Marta wants silence."

"You bet I do!"

I ignored her as Susannah dipped her head, planting a sweet kiss below my earlobe before she moved her lips to the left slightly, kissing every piece of skin she came across before stopping to the left of my lips.

Her lips were unbelievably close to mine when she pulled away slightly and froze, her jade eyes staring into my own as she smiled unreservedly up at me. My lips relented their serious pursing and relaxed into a grin also, and I laughed quietly resting my forehead against hers as I craved the touch of her lips against my own.

Torture.

It had been only one full day that I had gone without kissing her. One day too many, in my opinion.

I had to settle for hugging her fiercely against me instead.

Susannah giggled and placed more kisses on my cheek - one landed on my nose and she pulled away and poked it afterwards causing a full out laugh to escape my chest.

"Ew," Marta stood up and glared at us, the television forgotten behind her. "You guys, gross. I can hear the … sucking."

Susannah shrugged innocently, smiling up at her best friend deceptively sweet.

_Revenge._

Dios, I love this girl.

"It's a rule." She continued. "I'm allowed to kiss my boyfriend. He's just not allowed to kiss me." Her head whirled around to face me. "And don't think I've forgiven you for that yet, because I _so_ haven't."

"Yes, ma'am." I saluted her and received a soft slap on the arm for my efforts.

Following that, there should be another kiss.

Did I mention how much this was _killing_ me?

I pouted until Susannah rolled her eyes and kissed the area she'd slapped quickly.

"You guys are kind of disgusting," Marta informed, her hands resting on her hips as she glared at us accusingly, big sunglasses resting on her head. "You know that?"

"Yep!" My girlfriend answered happily. "And darn proud of it."

I smiled encouragingly and nodded towards my sister.

"It's true," I insisted. "You don't want to hang around us anymore. We're just too lovey-dovey for the likes of you."

"Whatever." My sister, so dangerously close to sounding like the Kelly Prescott in their grade I'd heard so much about. "I'm out of here."

She walked towards the door, picking up her bag as she did so.

"What, and leave the _silence_ you so desperately wanted?"

The slamming door was her only response.

"Don't you think that was kind of harsh?" I asked as Susannah untangled her limbs from my own and stretched, her t-shirt rising up slightly, revealing her flat stomach to my gaze.

"I figured I needed revenge for Marta doing this to us," Susannah told me. "At least now I can be civil for the next thirty-nine days. She doesn't have any idea how horrible this is."

"Oh, counting down the days until you can kiss me again, are you?" I teased.

It was about the only thing I could get away with doing in the coming weeks.

A faint blush stained her cheeks pink.

"Of course," she nodded. "I miss those lips of yours."

"Aww, querida," I sympathised. "They miss you too."

"They better." She fixed me with a soft glare, a twinkle in her eye betraying her hard tone. "The only stipulation for this thing was that you couldn't kiss _me_. You kiss someone else…"

She trailed off and I raised an eyebrow.

"I kiss someone else … and what?"

"I kick your butt."

I gasped in mock-horror.

"No!"

"Mm-hmm," she continued, curling up in my arms once again. "That sexy butt of yours is mine, buddy."

I was so close to kissing her to show her just how much my 'sexy butt' belonged to her.

This really was torture.


	3. Day Four

**A.N - Yeah, so I have so much fun writing this. I'm sorry that it takes forever to get chapters out. You can blame evil English teachers for that. **

**You guys should so check out this new DocX thing, Millie and I are having fun with it. Hehe.**

**Thanks so much everyone who reviews. It's awesome how much you seem to like this story. :)**

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**Day Four**

The music pulsed around us as Susannah sat next to me and my arm rested on top of her shoulders as hers wrapped around my waist lightly. I felt her hand softly draw circles in the denim fabric of my jeans.

I turned my head towards her and watched as her wide green eyes soaked in the experience of the nightclub. She was always the same. Every Saturday night we'd find somewhere to go, and every Saturday night Susannah would look as excited as if it were her first visit.

Tonight, however, she had chosen to dress a little more … provocatively than usual - her way, I'm sure, of revenge.

I could practically see it in her glinting emerald eyes.

_You can look but you can't touch._

Of course, she was wrong. I could touch - I just couldn't kiss her. And I fully intended on focusing on what it was I _could_ do.

Which is why her fingers soon found themselves entangled with my own as they rested gently in her lap.

I saw the slight nod of her head, in time with the music.

"You want to dance?" I shouted, just loud enough to be heard over the music.

She turned her head towards me, her tantalising pink lips mouthing the word 'please' before stretching into a smile and nodding eagerly.

Susannah stood up, her black skirt riding down low on her hips as her red top lifted to show me an unobstructed view of her toned stomach.

My querida was so very evil.

Her slight smirk told me that she knew it all too well before she looked at me pointedly and I finally found it within myself to lead her to the dance floor.

Our linked hands untangled as she turned in my arms so her back was to my chest and danced enthusiastically to the music.

I loved the way she danced.

My hand rested on her hip, keeping her pressed against me as I too joined in dancing - quite well, I feel inclined to say. Of course, I was better at slow dancing.

Susannah's long neck was level with my mouth, her hair having been pinned back gracefully tonight, glistening slightly with the drops of her exertion.

It was begging to be littered with kisses.

My mouth instead found her ear, close enough for her to stiffen in anticipation, but not quite touching her skin.

"You, querida," I whispered in her ear. "Are positively breathtaking. You don't know how much it is killing me to be dancing with you like this, but not kissing you."

She turned to face me, her cheeks painted a faint pink.

"I think I do," she whispered back breathlessly. "I hate this. All of this."

She kissed my cheek lingeringly.

"I can't even kiss you where I want to most."

Her next kiss barely grazed the skin next to my mouth and I shut my eyes in agonising bliss.

When my eyes opened once more, Susannah gasped at what I could only assume was my eyes, smouldering darkly. My fingers looped around her belt loops at either side of her hips and I pulled her in closer to me, our chests less than an inch from each other.

Her own slender arms reached to wrap around my neck as the music shifted to a much slower beat and people around us started pairing off.

"I love you, querida." I muttered deeply.

She sighed.

"Same." She paused, her face twisting into an adorably confused expression. "Only minus the '_querida'_. You know, I still don't know what that means."

I laughed and rested my forehead on hers, the temptation of kissing her so strong that I had to close my eyes, again, to resist. Instead I was treated to a greater appreciation of the perfume Susannah wore splashed lightly on her neck, just below her ears at her pulse points.

"I promise it's nothing too horrible, querida." I smiled, though she couldn't see. "But when you figure it out, tell me. I'll have to think of something new to call you."

Her light slap against my chest caused the smile stretched across my mouth to widen in amusement.

This whole 'not kissing Susannah' thing, whilst extremely difficult, was actually kind of a good thing. It gave me a chance to prove to Susannah how much I loved _her_, her mind, as well as her beauty.

I really was very lucky.

I was drawn out of my thoughts when my girlfriend softly rested her head against my chest, just over my heart and the place where she had slapped me mere moments before.

Susannah's fingers twisted in the curls at the base of my neck as she placed a soft kiss against my thin t-shirt - so thin that I could feel the heat of her lips through it.

We were lost in our own little world, holding each other and swaying gently in time with the dulcet tones of some singer blasting out through the speakers, until the people around us started jumping energetically again and we mutually decided to head back to our table.

Untangling ourselves from each other, I placed my hand in the small of Susannah's back as we made our way back to our table. Only to find Marta was sitting there, not alone as we expected, but talking to our cousin, Maria.

I was instantly on my guard. There had been talks, when both Maria and I were younger, to marry us. Fortunately, I had managed to convince my parents out of such an idea in my mid-teens before going on to meet Susannah - considering that she had been Marta's best friend since tenth grade, when she moved here, our meeting had been inevitable. Maria, however, didn't see it as fortunate as I did and was always trying to convince me to change my mind.

Never mind that relationships - let alone marriages - between first cousins were generally frowned upon nowadays by the American public.

My arm instantly moved to pull Susannah closer to me and my querida, knowing how I felt about my cousin, instinctively moved to kiss me affectionately on the cheek as she smoothed down my shirt, exaggerating the movements for Maria's benefit.

"Hey, Jesse," Maria smiled at me before her wide grin faltered slightly as she caught sight of Susannah. "Suze."

Susannah - I still refused to call her that abhorring nickname seeing as Susannah was so beautiful in itself - smiled back warmly at Maria.

"Hey!" Susannah moved to stand in front of me as she spoke and I sat down on the nearest stool, moving Susannah to sit in my lap. "You here with anyone?"

Her reply was an icy glare and a tight smile.

"No one of importance," Maria scraped through gritted teeth, her long black hair was swept back in a loose ponytail and her darkly rimmed eyes were narrowed. "But I should probably get back to them now."

"Probably," I agreed with an easy smile as Susannah moved to kiss me once again.

My cousin left without another word and I let out a breath as the tightness in my chest loosened.

"I hate her," my thoughts were spoken in Susannah's voice. "So much."

Her lower lip jutted out enticingly in a pout.

"We all do," Marta waved the comment away. "We deal."

"Well, I can't," Susannah countered. "She's trying to steal my boyfriend! Which, ew, gross much? You're _cousins_!"

The last part she directed towards me and I shrugged apologetically.

"I know." I frowned. "The idea creeps me out too."

Susannah smiled, satisfied.

"As long as she knows that you and her are so not happening - at least not any time soon - I'm happy."

"Her and I," I corrected. "Are 'so not happening' _ever_."

Her fingers in my own and her arm entwined with mine as she slid off my lap and onto her own seat next to me was, in my opinion, an adequate answer in itself but she went on to verbally reply also.

"Good answer."

She crossed her legs, inching her skirt slowly higher on her legs and I found it hard to resist looking at the revealed skin. But, resist I did, for I _was_ raised a gentleman after all.

Nevertheless, it was going to be a long night.


	4. Day Eleven

**A.N - A nice long - cheesy - chapter for you.**

**Props to Emily who helped me work around a flaw I had. This is for you because I haven't heard from you in days. Well, besides just then. But you know what I mean. :)**

**Thanks to everyone who's been reviewing. I really appreciate it.**

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**Day Eleven**

It was days like this that I loved living in California.

Other than the fact that the hot sun boiling down on us had been more than enough incentive for me to actually take off my shirt and drape it over my shoulders instead, it had also been a welcome invitation to relax down on the beach.

Which was where Susannah and myself were headed now, my aforementioned shirt hanging loosely around my neck as my arm wrapped around my girlfriend's spaghetti tank top-covered waist. Her white shorts – which, in my own opinion, were entirely too short to be called shorts. Shorts were what _I_ was wearing; the ones that fall to just under your knee – were covered by the sheer blue fabric of her sarong that she'd wrapped artistically around her hips before pushing a pair of sunglasses up her nose.

My querida looked beautiful, as per usual.

Her hand was clutched in mine as we strolled leisurely towards the beach. We could have driven, of course, but why waste such a beautiful day?

I darted a glance at the girl walking next to me. Her chestnut curls were pulled away from her face and clipped back, cascading down her neck in a flurry of curls. I couldn't believe that I had gone almost two weeks without my lips touching hers. More importantly, I couldn't believe that I had another twenty-nine days to go. Another full month before I could kiss her again.

Susannah, fortunately, had taken it upon herself to instigate all such embraces, seeing as she was still able to kiss me, and I had to take what she gave.

She sighed, gaining my attention once more.

"Are you alright?" I asked, my lips quirked in amusement as I studied her too-innocent face.

"I'm fine," she responded, shocking me only slightly. I had thought that she'd been playing me in order to get her a drink, which I would have done, of course. "I was just thinking … have you seen Maria at all since last week?"

I frowned at the direction of conversation.

"A few times, around campus." I admitted. "Why?"

"I'm kind of scared," she admitted and I understood immediately.

Maria was competition to her, a threat to our relationship. And I knew the fear that came with that. After all, I felt it often, with the looks Susannah collected from the opposite sex.

"Listen to me Susannah." My voice, dripping with seriousness, caught her attention immediately as she turned and locked her green eyes with my dark ones. "There is _nothing_ to be worried about. At all."

My hands cupped her cheeks and our foreheads rested against each other.

"I do not – and will not ever – have any feelings whatsoever, in the romantic sense, for my cousin, Susannah." I smiled at her relieved expression. "I promise."

Her eyes closed as she leaned in towards me and placed her lips at the corner of my mouth – as close as she could get to my lips.

"Thank you." She whispered, lips against my cheek as her eyes remained shut.

I brought my hands down from her face to link with hers once more as we resumed our journey towards the beach.

"You have as much to worry about from me," I told her. "As I have to worry about from you."

She smiled, and ducked her head into my bare shoulder, the heat of her skin practically burned my own.

"Well, that's good then," she promised. "Because I fully intend to stay with you for quite a long time."

Her hand travelled to my chest, lightly brushing over my lower abdomen.

"Besides," she looked up at me mischievously. "There is no way I'm giving up this."

I felt my eyebrow quirk upwards whilst my lips threatened to break out into a grin at her words. One could only assume that my girlfriend was quite proud of my stomach. Now that I think about it, I can recall hearing once that she thought I had (in her own words) 'washboard abs'.

I believe that the term 'six pack' was also thrown around, once or twice, in conversation.

"Just look at all the looks girls are giving me!" She exclaimed before smiling smugly and untangling our hands to wrap an arm around my waist. "They are all _so_ jealous."

"Well, querida," I stopped, gave her a mock bow, her cheeks tinged pink adorably at my actions, and looked up at her. "I aim to please."

"You are such a dork," she spoke happily, pulling me up and wrapping herself around me all over again.

"A dork with 'washboard abs'." I reminded her, laughing as she refused to meet my gaze.

"Oh, you heard that?" Her coyness had no effect on me.

"Yeah," I smiled at her, all of my teeth on show. "I did."

"Great," I caught the roll of her eyes. "Now I've given you an even bigger ego."

My grin merely widened in response.

"Honey," she patronised. "You know you're gorgeous. Now, can we please go soak up the rays at the beach?"

I sighed in mock disappointment.

"I suppose so."

We walked the rest of the short journey in silence, each sneaking glances of the other like it was our first date.

I love that about Susannah – the way things never seem to get old around her.

As it turns out, we weren't the only people who had plans to visit the beach that day.

When we finally found a good enough place to spend the day, I dutifully laid out the towels we were to sit on whilst Susannah set about stripping to her bikini – a way of distracting me, I'm sure.

Neatly folding her clothes and putting them on one side, Susannah slid down onto her towel and smiled up at me smugly.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." I rolled my eyes as I lay next to her, one knee bent as the other laid flat and my hand went to rest on my girlfriend's stomach. I turned my head to look at her face. "You know you're gorgeous."

I laughed at her outraged expression as I repeated her words back to her and ducked as she threw her bottle of sun tan lotion – the closest object to her hand – my way.

"Missed me, missed me," I teased. "Now you gotta kiss me."

I poked my tongue out at her and she laughed at my childishness, leaning over to kiss my cheek as my rhyme had told her to.

"Now," she ordered. "Behave whilst I tan, or …"

Her voice trailed off and I laughed expectantly.

"Or, what?" I challenged.

But her thoughts weren't on me; her gaze was focused on something over my shoulder.

The smile left my lips as I saw her eyes were locked onto a good-looking boy about our age, one who was smiling back at her. He waved as he saw me, causing me to frown as I recognised him.

"You know him?" Susannah asked casually.

"Yeah, that's Paul." I told her. "Paul Slater."

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Paul Slater was soon invited over to us; a wide smile was ever present on his face as he ran his fingers through his highlighted hair and joked around with _my_ girlfriend.

I'd been sure to mention it as well, that we were going out – officially – and had been for years.

He had, however, merely brushed off the topic with a 'how did _you_ get a girl like this, de Silva?' to which Susannah laughed and the conversation turned against me.

If this is what Susannah feels like whenever my cousin makes herself known, then I understand her fear. Losing Susannah had never been as real a possibility as it seemed at that moment.

I made sure to keep my arm around her shoulder and Susannah, for her part, leaned her head against my shoulder as she grew more and more tired, her fingers lazily drawing patterns on my chest.

Surely I was being stupid. Susannah wouldn't leave me, even for someone like Paul Slater. Even if I _had_ agreed to this stupid dare.

My grip around my querida tightened as she laughed at something Paul had said.

"Susannah," I ventured to speak, interrupting their conversation. "It's time to go back now."

She hid her yawn behind a tanned hand before she fumbled for her cell phone to get the time.

"Yeah," she agreed. "It is."

I had to hide my sigh of relief.

"We're going out tonight," she continued, obviously not noticing the way my heart fell. "It's our weekly … thing. You should join us. We're just going to a club."

Paul swivelled his blue eyes from Susannah, to myself and then back to Susannah again before shaking his head in refusal.

"No, I better not." He apologised. "I have some essays to finish. College is a drag."

Susannah laughed, once again, at his words.

"Tell me about it." She smiled at him. "Well, it was nice meeting you."

"Yeah, you too."

And then, before I could object, he wrapped his arms around her in a hug, shrugging my own arm off of her shoulders and encouraging her to hug him back, which she did.

Never before had I felt so jealous.

"I'll see you in class, De Silva." He threw over Susannah's shoulder as he unwrapped his arms from around her.

"Yeah," I nodded coolly, like what I had just seen hadn't caused my heart to skip a beat or two. "See you then."

Paul walked away then, glancing back at Susannah once or twice as she set about packing away our things. I'm certain that he wasn't trying to get a glimpse of her beautiful face either.

"Jesse?" My eyes softened from their hard glare at the back of Paul's head as I turned to look at Susannah who was watching me with a tilted head and wide eyes. "He doesn't bother you, does he?"

I was silent for a long moment before I finally replied.

"A little."

"Aw, Jesse." She walked over to me and wrapped her arms around my neck as she looked up at me. "I told you earlier – You have nothing to worry about."

A soft kiss was placed upon my nose and I shut my eyes in blissful agony.

"I love you, doofus."

I laughed at her choice of pet name.

"And I love you too, _tonta_."

Her laughter stopped as she stepped away from me and put her hands on her hips.

"Hector De Silva," she began. "You better not have called me 'stupid' because I'm _sure _that -"

I silenced her by tackling her to the sand below us and pinning her hands gently above her head with one of my hands whilst the other went to her mouth to silence her. When her mumbling stopped, I moved my hand and instead traced the contours of her lips with my fingers.

An idea soon formed in my mind and I moved the hand holding her wrists down to my mouth before kissing the fingertips.

It was as I was moving my fingers towards Susannah's lips that her hand grasped hold of my wrist this time, effectively stopping me.

"Jesse," she whispered. "I think that's cheating."

She was probably right. I needed to do _something,_ though. Not kissing her – especially after the Paul Slater ordeal – was killing me.

"I won't tell if you won't."

She blushed prettily and giggled before letting go of my wrist and closing her eyes. I pressed my fingers to her lips gently, keeping them there as the sun cast its last warm rays upon us as it disappeared behind the horizon.

"Come on querida," I whispered, regretfully moving away from her and helping her stand up. "We better go."

She nodded at me, took my hand and kissed it gently. Then, she entwined her fingers with mine and let them swing loosely between us.

Before we walked anywhere, though, she moved her lips to my ear and whispered back only two words.

"Thank you."


	5. Day Twelve

**A.N - Hey guys. Here's hoping that this will prevent you from killing me completely after you've read - if you even read - Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. **

**I quite like this chapter anyway. :)**

**Hehe**

* * *

**Day Twelve**

Sunday dinner at the De Silva household tends to be a big affair – even those of us who have left the household (namely myself and Marta) make the commute back to attend dinner.

Of course, a main reason for that has to do with my mother's extremely delicious cooking.

Even Susannah had made it a regular occurrence – her travelling back with me.

Today, however, was an exception.

Susannah had a test to study for tomorrow morning, and was spending all of today revising.

And my mother had invited another in her place. The one person I needed Susannah with me to tolerate.

My cousin. Maria.

The evil, malicious girl was doing everything in her power to spend time with me – going as far as to push my sister Josefina out of the way so that she could steal the seat next to me at the grand dining table.

Maria smiled at me smugly, flicking her dark hair over her shoulder as she leaned almost imperceptibly towards me.

I had to resist the urge to groan and drop my head in my hands.

_¡Nombre de Dios!_

It was going to be a long afternoon.

* * *

"Oh, Aunt Marisol." Maria gushed, not five minutes into our meal. I caught the eye of Marta across the table and rolled my eyes, smirking at the disapproving look _madre_ gave her when she giggled. "This is just _exquisite_, as always."

I lifted up a forkful of food on my plate, eyeing it suspiciously. Yes, my mother was a good cook, but she wasn't a gourmet chef. Her food was delicious, but not exquisite.

My youngest sisters, Abegail and Rosita, saw what I was doing and squirmed in their seats with giggles. I pulled a face at them, forcing their laughter out in the open as they whispered loudly to each other about which face they should pull back.

It was moments like this where Susannah would have leant over to them and whispered just as 'quietly' what to do, and then pull the face at me herself.

"Jesse!" My mother glared at me reprovingly. "Don't encourage them!"

I shrugged apologetically, missing Susannah. If she had been here, my mother would have joined in the laughter that encompassed the rest of the table. But as it was Maria present today, and not my querida, mother felt the need to scold me.

"No, no _tia_. It's alright." Maria's voice killed the laughter in the room. "I think the relationship that Hector has with his sisters is simply wonderful."

Then her hand found its way to my knee and stayed there.

My eyes widened as I put my own hand under the table to push hers away, only to have her link her fingers in my own in a tight grip.

I glanced across the table to obtain Marta's help only to see her mouth my name – _"Hector?"_ – at me incredulously, laughing at Maria's attempt to gain my family's respect.

She was trying to get in their good graces, probably hoping that they will force a marriage upon me.

Her nails dug into my hand in what she thought was an affectionate grope. I tugged my hand away from her, to no avail.

Maria had our hands resting on my thigh – dangerously high up. The touch filled me with disgust.

No one noticed my predicament and Maria continued eating as if our holding hands happened regularly - which it most certainly did not. There was nothing I could do but continue pulling restlessly at our joined hands, desperate to get away.

I'd never been so relieved to hear my mother announce that dessert was ready.

"I'll get it," I told my family, stopping my mom from getting up by standing up myself. Maria had no choice but to let me go.

"Thank you, Jesse." Mama smiled at me warmly and I felt a stab of guilt that the only reason I'd offered to help had been to get away from Maria.

Glancing down at my red hand, covered with little crescent shapes left from Maria's nails, I knew I'd made the right decision, and I resolved to help out my mother more often.

The ice cream mother had set out for desert hadn't taken long to distribute among the De Silva clan and regrettably soon I found my way back to my seat next to the cousin from Hell.

As soon as I sat down, my hand was again taken prisoner – try as I might to escape – and I received a quick kick to my ankle.

"Ow!" I yelped, surprised.

"Whatever is the matter, Jesse?" My mother scolded. "You're awfully excitable today."

I fought for an excuse to my behaviour, desperately racking my brain for one.

Coming up short, I was thankful for Marta covering for me.

"He's probably just missing Suze," she waved a hand dismissively, digging into her ice cream sundae. "You know those two are practically joined at the hip."

My girlfriend's name was the key to releasing my hand.

Maria's self-assured face dampened as she remembered that I was in a long-term, _committed _relationship with a girl with whom I was in love.

Immediately, I brought my hand above the table – an action that effectively denied Maria the opportunity to grasp it with her talon-like nails again.

"Thank you." I mouthed at my oldest younger sister. "So much."

She shrugged, hiding a smile behind her long curly hair.

The statement from Marta was accepted and forgotten as we moved on with the conversation. It was my father who brought up the topic I was hoping Maria wouldn't hear.

"So," he smiled at his children. "How is your lent going?"

Immediately Rosita and Abegail sighed and tears formed in their eyes at the idea of waiting another twenty-eight days before they were allowed to eat chocolate again. My mother smiled at the fondly.

"Hard." Mercedes complained, slouching in her chair. "Who knew how boring it was without television? Do you know how many books I've had to read?"

"It'll be okay, sweetie." Mama rolled her eyes at her daughter. "How about you Josefina?"

"Not so bad." She smiled widely. "I've discovered the wonderful world of smoothies now that I'm not allowed soda."

"How's yours going, Jesse?" Marta's voice cut across her sister's, bringing the attention onto me.

"Ah, yes." Father swivelled his gaze to me. "You picked something unusual this year, didn't you son? I can't quite remember though."

"It's fine." I spoke quickly, interrupting Marta. "I'm dealing. How about you Maria? What did you give up?"

Maria, however, had apparently decided to gang up on me along with the rest of the family.

"Nice try," she smiled maliciously. "But I'm intrigued. I want to know what it is you gave up."

I shook my head, telling her without words that I was not going to tell her whilst simultaneously glaring at Marta, practically threatening her not to say a word.

For once, she shut up.

"Ah, I've got it." My eyes fell shut at my father's voice. "He gave up kissing Suze."

He laughed.

"A shame too," he continued. "Susannah's a pretty girl."

My family adored Susannah. Normally I found the situation almost comforting but today I couldn't even crack a smile.

"Oh, really?" Maria piped up. "Forty days without kissing your girlfriend?" She was extremely too interested in this. "Poor you."

She hid her smirk behind the glass that she had raised to drink from.

The rest of the meal was spent making comments in passing over my predicament. The twins made kissy faces at each other whilst the older girls all joked and teased about Susannah getting her kiss-fix from elsewhere.

Maria kept uncharacteristically silent at the news, no doubt planning how she could use this to her advantage.

I couldn't wait until Easter came, and Lent would be over.

* * *

I arrived home later than I usually did, due to my parent's insistence that I see _mi prima_ home.

Shutting the door behind me, I pulled off my jacket and hung it behind the door, stretching as I turned to face the room.

Susannah was asleep on the couch, surrounded by her textbooks, one hand flat across her stomach as the other lay limp off the seat. I couldn't help but smile at the image she made.

After tidying her books, book-marking the pages she had left open in case she needed them and filing her several pieces of paper neatly away, I trailed a finger along her cheek before finding a blanket to lay over her.

"I love you, querida." I whispered to her unconscious form, sweeping a stray lock of hair back behind her ear.

She turned on the couch, mumbling and smacking her lips adorably before she settled again.

I tucked the blanket around her as I repeated my sentiments, glanced at her longingly once more before turning the light out and heading into my bedroom.

I collapsed on the bed but sleep didn't come quickly.

Instead, I lay awake, staring at the dark ceiling whilst thinking of the girl asleep in the next room.

The girl I loved.

And I was pretty sure that she was The One.


	6. Day Fifteen

**A.N - I realised that Suze is a bit manipulative in this chapter - blame Eclipse. I've been re-reading it, and we all know how much she manipulates Edward into getting her way, only he passes it off as a 'compromise'. Pfft.**

**Thanks to everyone who's been reviewing - I still can't believe it. xD**

**This should go out to Millie, who has been on a Twilight Movie high since the links went up on Lollie's Mediator Writing Challenge forum. Go check them out, if you haven't already. :)**

**Hope you like it.**

* * *

**Day Fifteen**

Lectures were so dreadfully boring.

My notebook was open to a clean page in front of me as I sat sprawled in my chair, tapping my pencil against the clear page.

It's not like I didn't already know everything the professor was talking about – he'd already taught it to us a few months earlier in the year.

I suppressed a yawn, glancing around me to see various other students doing the same thing.

Chuckling quietly, I glanced back down to my notebook and saw the fifteen hatch-marks I'd made as a tally of how many days it had been since I last felt Susannah's lips against my own.

Fifteen days down, twenty-five to go.

Never again was I accepting a dare of my sister's. She knew the exact way to torture me.

My professor's eyes were shut, and I wondered if he even knew he was in front of a room full of students. When they opened, they looked surprised to see several blank faces staring back at him.

Nevertheless, he took it in his stride, smiling cheerfully at all of us before exclaiming the one word students dreaded to hear.

"Project!"

I, unlike the other people in the room, didn't groan aloud. Instead, I realised that it helpfully provided me of a way to not think about Susannah, and the days we had left to go.

"I will be picking your partners," he continued. "So listen out for your names."

My name was among the first, being first alphabetically.

"De Silva …" I glanced up with genuine interest, awaiting my partner's name. "And Slater."

Completely oblivious to my feelings of horror, the professor casually continued pairing people up as I caught a wave out of the corner of my eye.

There he was. Paul Slater. The same Paul Slater who had almost ruined that day at the beach for Susannah and myself. The same Paul Slater who had apparently had too much of an interest in _my _girlfriend.

And now I had to spend the next month working with him whilst simultaneously _not_ trying to kill him for the trouble I knew he'd cause, should Susannah be anywhere near.

I nodded in acknowledgment and desperately thought of any excuse that could get me out of this partnership.

I had none.

Sighing, I resigned myself to my fate, deciding to get it over with as soon as possible.

The sooner we finished the project, the less time Paul would have to spend with Susannah.

And that suited me perfectly.

* * *

"This is it," I announced, trying the door handle and regretfully finding it unlocked. That meant that someone was inside and the only other people with a key were Marta … and Susannah. "My dorm."

I pushed open the door and walked in, chucking my keys on the kitchen counter.

"Dump your stuff wherever." I shrugged.

Paul set his bag down behind the door and rummaged around before pulling out his history textbook and notes. I watched him with a cool intensity, leaning against the kitchen counter.

"Want something to drink?" I offered half-heartedly, pushing away from the wall and heading towards the fridge. I'd always been told that politeness was a virtue. I was questioning that now.

"What you got?" He asked, leaving his books on a table as he joined me in the kitchenette.

"Soda, diet soda – Susannah's contribution," I laughed. "Root beer and, of course, there's always water."

"Soda's fine."

This was awkward. I had to be nice to a threat to my relationship. And my houseguest had yet to make an appearance.

I was still clinging to the hope that it was Marta, doing as all younger sisters do and taking my things without asking.

After passing a can to Paul and claiming one for myself, I cracked it open and gulped half the content down in one.

The door to my bedroom opened.

"Hey, Jesse," my eyes fell shut when they heard Susannah's voice. "I was wondering if you wanted to go grab a bite to eat? Oh, hey Paul. Never mind, you have company."

I opened my eyes, fully intending to halt my girlfriend's babblings, and instead was met with her looking unbelievably gorgeous in an extremely short skirt and low cut tank top.

My eyes darted everywhere, searching for a suitable place to rest my eyes without being able to be accused of being rude.

I settled for her face and saw her lips quirk in a self-satisfied smile as her eyes twinkled in delight.

"Pass me a soda?" Her full lips formed the words perfectly and I shook my head in amusement before turning to do as she asked.

The chore was forgotten as I saw Paul's eyes focused far below the level of my querida's face. He was obviously void of any sense of decorum.

His eyes were flicking back and forth, clearly not knowing whether to appreciate the length of her tanned legs or the figure that her top so clearly emphasised.

I purposefully shoved his shoulder on my way to the fridge, successfully pulling him out of his trance.

"Hey Suze," he recovered. "You look, er, good."

Her laughter burned my ears where it normally chimed.

"Thanks, Paul." She responded. "You look good too."

My grip on the diet soda can I held tightened and she walked towards me to claim it, thanking me with a kiss to the cheek and her hands affectionately claiming my own.

I whispered a soft 'thank you' in her ear.

"So, what are you guys doing?"

She led me to the couch and pushed me down before settling herself in my lap comfortably. My arms held her around her waist, keeping her in my embrace.

Paul followed behind.

"Class project." He informed her.

With those two words he single-handedly gained every ounce of her concentration.

"Really?" She implored, leaning towards him in my arms and twirling a strand of hair around her finger.

If I didn't know any better, I'd say she was flirting.

But she couldn't be, could she?

Relaxing my tight grip on her, I rolled my eyes at myself. I was being irrational. Susannah loved me and she _knew_ how much the idea of her and Paul together bothered me.

Whilst I thought that loosening a grip was a sign of my trusting her, Susannah took it as a chance to climb out of my arms and sit between Paul and I, slightly closer to him.

Her hand rested on his shoulder in an action that could be justified as friendly, if it came down to it.

Paul responded by wrapping an arm around her shoulders in kine, pulling her close to him. The only hold I had on Susannah at that moment was our fingers, loosely linked together. And it wasn't enough.

She threw a grin over her shoulder towards me, her eyes glinting mischievously. I was instantly on guard.

"Oh," she gasped, her finger coming to trace Paul's lips before she slowly pulled it downwards. "Sorry, you had something on your lip."

Paul gulped.

"No problem," he glanced over at me nervously. "I, uh, think you got it."

As it turns out, Paul wasn't stupid. He knew when he'd gone a step too far with another's girlfriend. My eyes were narrowed into slits as I glared at him.

She smiled and opened her mouth to say something, stopping when her phone rang.

Standing up, she hurried over to her bag and quickly found her phone.

"Hello?" There was a tense silence between Paul and I on the couch. "Oh, hey Marta."

She went about collecting her things.

"No." She shrugged on a jean jacket. "Yeah, sure. I'll be right over."

She flipped her phone shut and pulled her bag over her shoulder, moving to kiss Paul on the cheek quickly.

"Bye guys." She moved over to me and kissed my cheek also, lingering longer than on Paul's, due in large part to the fierce hug I had trapped her in.

I knew exactly what she'd been playing at.

Susannah wasn't going to let me forget about the dare I had accepted and I was sure that her over-flirtatiousness wasn't going to finish until Lent did.

Releasing her, she smiled at me knowingly and winked before leaving the dorm.

Paul and I were left alone.

"Look, Jesse," Paul began. "I really didn't –"

I held up a hand to stop him talking.

"It's fine," I told him, not kindly. "It's between me and her. But, please? Do us both a favour and don't get involved."

There must have been something menacing in my tone that had him nodding and agreeing immediately.

Silence ruled over the room as we worked through the tasks we'd been given until, finally, Paul left.

* * *

Susannah had come back late that night, fresh faced and wide eyed, biting her lip in agitation.

"Jesse, I'm sor-"

I pulled her into my arms possessively, resting my chin atop her gorgeous chestnut coloured hair.

"You don't fool me, Susannah Simon," I warned her deeply. I felt her shiver in my embrace. "I know exactly what you're up to."

"I was only-"

"I _know_." I repeated. "And it's working. Just, please, remember that I may not be allowed to kiss you … but I can kiss anyone else I please."

It was harsh – I knew it – but it was also a last resort. It killed me to see her overly friendly with Paul.

She froze and her head slowly moved up to look at mine.

"You're not serious." She kissed my neck slowly, trying to dissuade me. "There is no _way_ that you would."

I shrugged, hiding the effect that her kisses were having on me.

"Just like there is no way that you would?"

Her reaction shouldn't have been surprising, not really.

"Well then, Mr De Silva," she smirked, pressing a final kiss to my jaw line before pulling away and smirking. "I guess that this is war."

My eyes narrowed at her.

"If that's what you want."

"Mm-hmm," she smiled. "Just remember – I kick your sexy butt if you kiss anyone else."

I smiled back.

"And you remember, darling querida," I took on my deepest, most persuasive voice. "That if _you_ kiss anyone else …"

I let the threat trail off as her eyebrows rose.

My hands tightened around her waist.

"That the best you got?"

"Try me and see."

I wasn't mad at her, not really. She was merely reacting to a bad situation the way she always did. The fact the she was also making me insanely jealous made no difference.

Because I knew that she could also be just as jealous as me.

"So, querida." I smirked and she lovingly threaded her fingers in my hair before leaning into to kiss my cheek. "What do you think?"

Or so I thought. Her mouth was instead directed towards my ear and she stopped a mere hairbreadth away.

My breath hitched in my throat.

"Let the games begin."


	7. Day Twenty

**A.N - I'm so, _so_ sorry about the delay! You see, there are these pesky things called exams that all of my teachers decide to give us at the same time. As a result, I may not be updating quite as regularly. I have an English GCSE in just over two weeks, two maths exams the week before as well as Welsh and various language orals coming up that I am not ready for.**

**Argh.**

**On the plus side, a good 2000+ word chapter here. :) And, if any of you have any ideas as to what Jesse and Suze can get up to next, let me know. I'll try to work it in. xD**

* * *

**Day Twenty**

As it turns out, Paul Slater wasn't all that horrible to hang out with – once I had drilled into him that Susannah was _my _girlfriend, of course – doing this project wasn't as horrible as I'd first thought it would be.

We were in my dorm room today, a dangerous place to be, considering Susannah and myself declared war on one another here.

"Want a drink?" I asked Paul, lazily pulling myself away from the couch and the table scattered with various resources.

"I'm good, thanks." Paul didn't even look up, instead he kept on scribbling on the paper.

Shrugging, I pulled open the mini-fridge and grabbed a can of soda.

California was having one of its many _hot_ days and the heat had driven Paul and myself to open all the windows in the dorm – which didn't help much.

It had also been the cause of our shirts being unbuttoned – mine fully and Paul's only halfway – and my sleeves were pushed up past my elbow.

I placed the cool can to my forehead and sighed at the sensation.

"Sometimes," I stated as I returned to the living area, "I hate living in California."

"It sure is different from Seattle," Paul agreed.

Falling back down onto the seat I had recently vacated, I leaned my head back and let my eyes fall shut as a wave of exhaustion settled over me.

College was a hardship – I preferred backpacking across Europe, myself. You didn't have to do homework there.

I felt someone walk across the room, stopping behind me and I opened my eyes, expecting to see Paul towering above me with a cup of water, or something.

Instead, I was met with the face of my girlfriend, glistening slightly with sweat as a wide smile stretched across her face.

"Tired, Jesse?" She teased, pecking my nose in her form of greeting.

Smiling, I pulled my head up and grabbed Susannah around her waist, pulling her into my lap.

"I was," I whispered. "Not now."

"You know," she whispered back, "That says a lot about Paul's people skills."

"I heard that." Paul wasn't angry, you could tell as much by his tone. But, if that didn't prove it, there was always the amused smile that had settled on his lips. "Nice skirt, by the way."

She smiled flirtatiously and thanked him graciously whilst leaning a hand on his chest. Paul didn't encourage her, but he didn't push her away either.

Rolling my eyes, I directed my attention to what she was wearing.

A spaghetti tank top – and I only know these things as I grew up in a house filled with fashion magazines – and a skirt that was cut off several inches above the knee, revealing her long tanned legs.

Susannah's arms snaked around my neck and entwined in my hair – she'd always loved my hair.

"You like?" She asked cheekily, becoming distracted as she caught sight of my exposed chest.

I didn't reply with words, more a noise that agreed with her question.

"Okay," The dorm room door opened again and my sister walked into the room. "Next year, I _so_ have to rethink the whole Lent dare thing – you two are still extremely nauseating."

I glared at her, annoyed at the thought that she was already planning something worse for me when I was already enduring such agonising torture.

"And what are you doing here, Marta?"

She ignored me and went to the fridge to pull out a bottle of water before chugging down a mouthful.

"I was bored," she shrugged and swigged from the bottle again. "And apparently my favourite brother was having a party."

"I'm your only brother," I reminded her in a murmur, not really trying to argue – it's not like she didn't already know.

"Hey, can I have some of that?"

Marta threw the water bottle towards the girl sitting on my lap, who caught it expertly and finished off the contents quickly.

Her eyes widened as she faced me again, holding the now empty bottle in her hands.

I caught her look, and knew instantly what she was planning.

"Susannah, no." I groaned.

"_Let the games begin_," she reminded me with a wink before jumping off my lap and sitting cross-legged on the floor. "Who's up for a game of 'Spin the bottle'?"

Being Susannah's best friend, Marta instantly realised Susannah's intention, and jumped at the chance to make her only brother squirm.

"Oh, I am!"

She joined my _querida_ on the floor and looked up at Paul imploringly, her brown eyes wide.

"How about you Paul?"

Paul made the stupid mistake of actually looking up and glancing at my sister's never failing puppy-dog eyes.

"Oh, I don't know," was his non-committal response. "We still have a lot of work to do."

"Please?" Susannah joined in, her luscious pink lip jutting out in a pout. "It's no fun without boys. Otherwise, it would just be Marta and I … kissing."

Paul brightened at that, a glazed look appearing in his eye that left one guess as to what he was thinking about.

I felt it was my duty – as a brother and a boyfriend – to smack his head, and bring him back to reality with a glare.

"Yeah, okay," he put down his pen and used that hand to comfort his now-sore head. "I'm in."

The girls cheered before turning their attention onto me.

"Jesse?" Susannah drawled. "You gonna come and play?"

My hand gripped my jeans where it rested on my thigh.

"No," I told them. "I'm happy here."

"Please?"

Susannah's voice was irresistible, it's true, but it was the soft trail of her fingertips on my skin, and the kisses she left in their wake, which finally forced me into agreeing to the game.

"Fine." I stood up and joined them on the floor, completing the circle. "Who starts?"

* * *

Apparently, Susannah did.

She took the empty water bottle and placed it on the floor before glancing towards me and winking as she spun it.

All I could do was wish with bated breath that it didn't land on one Paul Slater.

When it landed on my sister, I felt a sigh of relief escape me and the two shared a friendly kiss on the cheek.

Next, it was Marta's turn and her spin landed on Paul. He grinned happily and leaned forward to offer his cheek to my sister.

Then Susannah's eyes glinted at me as I reached over to spin the bottle. This game was for high school kids, not college students, but everyone seemed to be having fun, I couldn't refuse now.

And my options were frighteningly poor. Either, it landed on my girlfriend and I had to pass up my go, or, it landed on my sister – whom I had showed no form of affection since this dare began. Personally, I was hoping for Paul.

I barely felt anything when the end of the bottle with the top pointed towards Susannah.

The room went silent – all of its occupants being aware of the whole Lent situation – as Susannah and I looked at each other.

"Hey, Marta?" Susannah asked, without taking her eyes away from my own. "What happens now?"

"Well," she chewed nervously on her bottom lip. "By the rules of the game, you kiss." The smiles that spread across both of our faces were not missed. "But, due to religion, you can't."

"So?" I asked impatiently. "What do we do?"

"Um," My sister was puzzled. "Air-kiss?"

I rolled my eyes and began to shout at my sister, only to be interrupted by the knocking of the door.

I guess we really were having a party.

Sighing, I accepted defeat, and went to answer the urgent knocking.

"Finally!" My cousin's unwelcome voice was what greeted me. "Here you all are. I've been looking, like, everywhere!"

It was no wonder why Maria's best friends had the names Debbie and Kelly, respectively.

She walked past me and settled down into the circle.

"So, what are we playing?"

I closed my eyes as I shut the door – I don't know what I'd done to deserve this.

"Actually," Susannah began nervously. I smirked. Apparently, it was alright for Susannah to tease Paul as she had been doing, but not alright if there became a possibility of Maria and I kissing. "We were just –"

"Playing spin the bottle."

I take back everything I once thought about Paul actually being good to hang out with. I hate him again.

"Cool," She leaned forwards to reach for the bottle, displaying her … assets, so to speak, temptingly. "My go."

No one missed the way she looked up at me and licked her lips slowly as she span the bottle – but, funnily enough, I was the only one to notice Susannah's gaze narrow slightly.

Grinning, I winked at her and raised an eyebrow.

What goes around comes around.

Maria's face, when the bottle landed on Marta, was priceless.

Our childish game continued and the highlight of it, in my opinion, was the reluctance both Maria and my querida showed when Susannah's second spin landed on her rival. They kissed, nonetheless - it is the game after all - though only on the cheek.

It also resulted in a rather manly kiss between Paul and myself, unfortunately. The first person I kiss – outside of family – in twenty days and it is Paul Slater's cheek.

"Watch out, Suze," Marta had joked. "Your man might prefer more of his own kind after all."

Everyone laughed, excluding Maria, who had instead responded with, "Well, that's what a Lent without kissing does to a man."

The laughter ceased abruptly and Maria smirked self-assuredly as she reached forward to take her turn again.

She was probably hoping that it would land on me, whilst I was hoping it would land on Paul.

Susannah, however, was probably planning the homicide of my cousin – considering Maria had once again made a show of whom she'd prefer to kiss.

"Oh, shame," Susannah lazily made a show of look at her nails as the bottle chose Maria's victim. "You don't get to kiss your _cousin_. Again. That's good, I suppose. I think it's like, incest, or something."

Maria's gaze sharpened.

"Actually, _Suze_," she spat. "It's not. It's perfectly legal to marry your first cousin."

"Doesn't stop it being any less incestuous."

I stood up then and took my place next to Susannah, linking her fingers with my own. Burying my face in her hair as I breathed in the shampoo she uses, I missed the look she shot Maria, and the one she received in turn.

"Well, go on Maria," Marta urged. "You have to kiss Paul now."

I looked up at that, taking a brief moment to enjoy the kiss on the cheek Susannah had gratified me with, and saw Paul's expression of pure happiness. Now I understood why he'd wanted my cousin to play with us.

She rolled her eyes and angled her head so as to kiss Paul's cheek.

"No, Maria," I told her and she looked up hopefully, thinking I'd come to my senses and couldn't possibly bear the sight of her kissing another man. "It's only a cheek kiss if it's same-sex couples. You have to go for the lips, I'm afraid."

She didn't have to know that that rule had only come into place right now.

Susannah and Marta giggled childishly, whilst Paul shot me a grateful look and Maria gritted her teeth.

Smiling, I wrapped my arm around Susannah's shoulders, liking the feel of her curled up against me.

Silently, we watched as Maria hastily pressed her lips against Paul's, then repressed laughter when he took the initiative and wrapped an arm around her waist before pushing her head more firmly against his to keep her there.

As we were watching so intently – Marta, Susannah and I – we saw the exact moment that Maria decided that she liked kissing Paul after all.

I made a mental note to thank Paul for pulling her attention away from me.

"Don't you think that they make a good couple?" Marta asked, tilting her head as she watched the make-out session the kiss had progressed into.

"I wish him luck," Susannah said. "Anyone who knows her – let alone actually _likes_ her – needs it."

"Come on," I spoke, the voice of reason. "Let's leave them in privacy."

Standing up, I pulled Susannah gently up after me and wrapped my arms around her tiny waist once we were both stable.

"I wish that we could have gotten our kiss." I murmured against her cheek. "I can't believe that only half of this time has gone."

"I know." She responded pressing kisses against my neck. "You know I love you, right? That I don't _really_ want anyone else?"

I nodded, hands tightening on her hips.

"I know. I don't either."

"That works out nicely."

"I thought so."

I grinned at her as Marta rolled her eyes and left the room.

"Does this mean that we've called a truce?" She asked.

"You'd think so," I replied with a smile. "But I recall that _someone_ led me to believe that you were willing to cheat on me, because I agreed to this dare."

She rolled her eyes.

"Well, you shouldn't have!" She complained. "This is horrible. It's torture!"

I agreed.

"You know," I began conspiratorially. "Marta was the one to come up with the dare …"

"… And guilt you into it."

My girlfriend and I wore matching evil smirks as we ignored the couple on the floor and thought up ways to make my sister pay.

"Looks like we've found our next victim."


	8. Day Twenty Five

**A.N - Okay, slightly shorter chapter than normal - Sorry. I just planned on ending it where I did. I think it works more anyway.**

**I like this chapter anyway.**

**Hope you guys do too - and forgive me for the lacking length. :)**

* * *

**Day Twenty Five**

The familiar bass line buzzed along the floor and towards our table as Susannah, Marta and myself were once again spending our Saturday night at a campus club.

Susannah and I shared the booth, her leaning against my chest as I idly played with her hair. Feeling the urge overtake me, I leaned forward to place a kiss on Susannah's temple … Only to stop a hairbreadths away from her sweet-smelling skin.

We sighed, simultaneously.

"Oh, cheer up guys!" Marta bounced back to our table, drink in hand and a wide smile on her face as she gracefully pushed her hair out of her eyes. "Suze! Come join me."

My girlfriend, however, was still stubbornly clinging to our 'let's-get-revenge-on-Marta' plan.

"No," she replied coolly. "I'm good here."

And, to prove it, she snuggled in closer to my chest whilst I brought my arms up to wrap around her.

"Oh, come on!" Marta begged and I started to think that maybe she was _more_ than a little drunk. "Paul and Maria are having fun!"

She gestured towards the dance floor where the new couple were stood with their tongues down each other's throats and their arms around each other.

Whilst I was glad that both Paul and Maria were out of Susannah's and my way, the couple could get pretty nauseating.

"You can't honestly say that me and Jesse were like that," Susannah began. "You know, before we were _banned_ from kissing."

Her last sentence was punctuated with a glare towards my inebriated and completely oblivious sister.

"No," she wrinkled her nose. "You two were way more PG-Rated than _that_. You guys really need to spice it up a bit!"

She was met with twin glares.

"Well, we _would_," I seethed. "Only we have to wait another two weeks."

She waved us off, uninterested.

"Oooh," Marta was distracted very easily. "_He's_ nice."

"Who?"

I rolled my eyes at Susannah's interest. She could maintain a grudge for days but the second a 'cute guy' walked past, her and _mi hermana querida_ were as close as pre-pubescent schoolgirls.

"Need I remind you of my presence, querida?" I asked sarcastically.

"No need," she leaned over and distractedly kissed my cheek. "I know you're there."

Standing, I asked deaf ears if anybody wanted another drink.

Hearing no reply, I bought them drinks anyway – two diet cokes. Marta was not having any more alcohol. Although, come to think of it, I think that she only had one cocktail.

When I returned, drinks in hand, I saw another male at the booth – thankfully, next to my sister and not my girlfriend. Actually, maybe that isn't as thankful as I thought …

"Hi," I greeted suspiciously on my return as I wrapped my arm around Susannah's shoulders – I swear I caught an eye roll at my protectiveness.

"Oh, Jesse!" Marta smiled as she placed a hand on the boy's arm. "This is Mike. Michael."

Saying nothing, I instead chose to raise an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I know you, Michael." I wasn't impressed. "Meducci?"

He shifted nervously in his seat.

"Um, yeah," He stuttered. "Th-that's me."

Pursing my lips, I sent my sister a look that clearly said 'we need to talk' and she noticed immediately.

Rolling her eyes, Marta stood up and excused herself before marching past me and towards the bar and, whilst I regretted having to leave Susannah behind, I really needed to talk to my sister alone.

"What do you think your playing at?" She shouted to be heard over the music and managed to gain the attention of some other students who were all too eager to watch a De Silva showdown.

I rolled my eyes and grabbed her wrist before pulling her towards a less crowded area of the club.

"What am _I_ playing at? Marta that guy was charged with _murder_!"

My sister had a sarcastic eye roll to rival Susannah's.

"That was never proven," her tanned arms raised to cross over her chest as her eyebrow raised in a similar fashion to myself. "Besides, he's a nice enough guy."

"Marta," I sighed. "I forbid you to go out with him."

She froze.

"_Excuse me?_" Needless to say, Marta was not impressed. "You do _not _have the right to tell me who I can and cannot date."

"Really?" I smirked, knowing I had the upper hand again, and raised my eyebrow. At this moment, Marta and I must've looked scarily alike, had anyone been around to see. "Remind me what you gave up for Lent again?"

"Chocolate. But I don't know what that has to do with any-"

My smirk grew more pronounced.

"And was that, or was that not a chocolate bar I saw you eat last week?"

Her eyes narrowed into a cold glare.

"You should look into a career of private investigation."

Her voice was monotonous and sarcastic, yet she didn't answer the question.

"Thought so." I took a step away from my sister and leaned against a wall self-assuredly. "I bet you haven't even confessed to it, either."

Her silence was all the answer that I needed.

"So, dearest sister of mine, here's the deal." I raised my hand and look at my nails disinterestedly. "No dating or kissing this guy until I find out if he actually killed those kids." She rolled her eyes. "Then, even if he _is _innocent, you're waiting until the end of Lent – like Susannah and I."

"What?!" She shouted, outraged.

"You broke your Lent promise, now you have to stick out the rest of it like we do."

"And if I don't?"

"I'm telling mom."

"You are _so_ twelve."

I shrugged.

"Fine!"

Marta stormed away from me then, feet stomping as she returned to the booth. I followed shortly afterwards, a smile permanently grafted on to my face.

"What was that about?" Susannah asked me, amused, if not curious.

Marta's arms were still stubbornly crossed as she slouched in her seat, refusing to look at anybody as Michael looked at her in confusion.

I linked my hand with my girlfriend's and squeezed it affectionately as my smile widened.

"Revenge."


	9. Day Twenty Nine

**A.N - Reviews dropped a little last chapter but I can understand that, considering the short chapter. This one isn't much better - but you gotta love the ending. ;)**

**In brighter news, yay! English exam OVER with. I get a good three weeks now until my Science ones - one of which is half term. Updates galore. I want to try and finish a few of these stories to get a few new ones up.**

**Almost over this story - shame, I quite liked it. :)**

* * *

**Day Twenty Nine**

Paul and I were sprawled on my couch, eyes fixed on the small television in my dorm room. Our assignment had been due in that morning so now we were just … hanging out.

Which just goes to show how our friendship had grown over the past week or so.

"Change the channel." I muttered to Paul, the remote in between us.

"Can't," he replied, standing up and knocking the remote towards me. "I'm getting a drink."

"Well, get me one then."

Paul nodded as I pushed the channel up button, flicking past music videos, football matches and reality shows.

"There's nothing on," I told him.

"What about _America's Next Top Model_?" Paul suggested, chucking a bottle of beer towards me.

I dutifully switched to the right channel and smirked at the show that was on. Paul shouldn't really know what time this show was on – but, hey, I wasn't complaining.

"Susannah is so much better looking than any of these," I found myself muttering.

"Hey, at least you could kiss them, if you wanted."

I glared at him.

"Watch it," I warned.

"Sorry," he held up his hands defensively. "I'm just saying. God, I'd go crazy if I couldn't kiss Maria for that long. You're doing well."

He clamped a hand on my shoulder, supposedly supportively, and I shrugged it off again.

"It helps that if you couldn't kiss Maria, she'd go off and kiss the next man that walked through the door."

Paul laughed. "Yeah," he agreed. "That is a part of it."

We watched the rest of the show in silence, not even commenting on the beautiful women parading on the screen.

Paul was too immersed in the show, whilst I was lost in my thoughts.

* * *

"I can't believe you did this to me, Marta!"

Hours later, Paul had left and Susannah was in the library, studying for an exam she had tomorrow. I, on the other hand, was in Marta and Susannah's dorm, finally making my anger known.

After twenty-seven days of pure torture, I was letting Marta know just how much this had hurt me.

"You don't know what it's like!"

"I do, remember?" She lazily flicked through a magazine, lying stomach down on her bed. "You've banned me from going out with Michael Meducci. Even _after_ you found out he is innocent."

"Well, he can't be all that good for you if someone had decided to frame him like that."

I ran a shaky hand through my hair and took a deep breath.

"But that's not the point, Marta." I sat down next to her and took her magazine away, ignoring the glossy pictures of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie or whoever it was Marta was reading about. "The point is, that every second I spend away from Susannah is a second she might grow tired of me. She might even be cheating on me. I can't even kiss her, let alone …"

"Jesse," Marta sighed. "Susannah loves you, okay? She really, _really_ does. I've told you before – it's sickening."

"But –"

"But nothing." She continued, taking my hand. "Sure, it sucks that you can't kiss each other like you want to – and I didn't think about how horrible it would be for the two of you when I dared it. I'm sorry – but Susannah respects you, Jesse. She knows how you feel about that and she's still with you. Has been for years."

She paused for a second and dropped my hand. It took her a second before she rolled her eyes.

"Oh, _Díos_," she cried. "I so just sounded like Mom."

She picked up the magazine again and turned to the page I'd interrupted her reading.

"Yes, you did," I chuckled. "But, thanks. It helped."

"And, just think," she continued. "Thirteen days, and this will be over. You two can … kiss, as much as you want."

I rolled my eyes.

"As always, thank you for your wonderful advice."

"_De nada_."

* * *

I was sat on the couch, watching television again – only this time I was alone.

Susannah was coming over shortly and I'd already lit the candles the way she liked, and sorted out a meal for her – she was usually hungry after an afternoon of studying.

Nervously, I played with the new box that hung heavily inside my jacket pocket.

After I left Marta's dorm, I realised just how much Susannah meant to – how much I never wanted to be without her.

I realised just how much I truly loved her.

And how much I wanted to marry her.

I pulled the box out of my pocket and flipped it open with a sigh.

With the soft candlelight playing against the diamond, it looked beautiful. The biggest diamond, in the middle, surrounded by smaller ones, stood dominantly on the silver band.

It was not extravagant, by any means. The engagement ring was the best I could afford, given the short notice.

But I hoped – _knew_ – that Susannah would love it.

"Hey, honey." The click of Susannah's keys in the door startled me and I only just managed to push the box out of sight as she made her presence known.

"Hey, _querida_," I returned.

She walked towards me slowly, exhaustion exuding from her even as she dipped her head gracefully to kiss my cheek.

"Good day?" I asked.

She yawned whilst she nodded, raising her arms above her head and I watched as her tanned, toned stomach was slowly revealed to my gaze.

"If not tiring."

I snapped my eyes away from the exposed skin and pushed my attention back on the show I was watching.

"I missed you today," she carried on talking as she took her plate and tucked into my side. "It feels like it's been forever since we just had some us time, you know?"

I merely nodded, the nervousness built up in my throat making speech impossible.

She kissed my cheek again.

"I love you, you know?"

I nodded again and cleared my throat, fingering the box in my pocket once again.

"Susannah?"

"Mmhmm?" Her drowsiness was evident and I smoothed her hair away from her face gently.

"I just –" My voice cracked, so I cleared it. "_Querida?_"

"Yeah, Jesse?"

Her eyes were shut as her head lay against my chest, her hand resting next to it.

"Nothing."


	10. Day Thirty Nine

**A.N - Okay, so, this has been planned since the beginning. One more chapter left guys. Maybe two, depending on if I decide for an Epilogue. But I do have another story planned, called _A Pirate's Life For Her_ I really like it. And hope you guys will too. **

**To be posted shortly. xD**

* * *

**Day Thirty Nine**

One more day.

I couldn't believe that I had gone thirty-nine days without feeling Susannah's lips against mine. Moreover, I couldn't believe that in another day, this would all be nothing but a painful memory.

Tomorrow, I could kiss Susannah again.

Tonight, however, I was going to ask her the question that had been plaguing me for the past ten days.

There had been a number of occasions where I'd felt the words bubble up in my throat and threaten to spill over and I'd had to physically restrain myself from saying the words.

Susannah was coming over tonight, before our weekly nightclub trip, and I was going to ask her then.

I had everything sorted. The meal was staying warm in the small oven; the table was set with a single candle casting its flickering glow over the plates.

The ring was in my pocket, shining and waiting to be placed on Susannah's finger.

My heartbeat had yet to become steady at the thought of marrying Susannah.

It was a change – a big one – but one that I was happy to make.

I love Susannah, after all.

* * *

"Oh, Jesse!" My girlfriend exclaimed as she walked into the room, looking beautiful, as always. "It's amazing!"

I smiled sheepishly and pulled her chair out for her, gesturing her to sit down.

"What brought all of this on?"

Shrugging, I said, "Just wanted to pamper you."

I could have brought up the proposal then, I suppose. But I wanted to do it right – preferably when my hands weren't shaking with nerves.

"Well, consider me pampered." She laughed and kissed my cheek appreciatively. "Thank you."

Her words were sincere, but did nothing to calm my nerves.

No one knew what I planned on doing. And I mean no one.

Not Marta, Paul, nor any of my family.

I was totally alone in this.

The dinner passed amicably enough, though watching that fork slide between Susannah's lips gracefully was pure torture. More so, as it was tomorrow that I could finally kiss her again.

It got to dessert – a simple ice cream sundae, I'm not creative enough to come up with anything else – before I realised that time was running out, and that I needed to ask her now, or miss my shot. Again.

So, I put down my spoon and cleared my throat, taking Susannah's hand in my own as I forced her attention on me.

"Querida," I began, my voice sounding croaky as I forced the words out around the lump in my throat. "These past six weeks have been torture –"

"I know," she took another mouthful of ice cream. "I can't wait until tomorrow when this is all over."

I smiled patiently.

"But they've also helped me realise something." She looked up at me interestedly. "I love you, Susannah."

"I'd have hoped that you knew that before?" She laughed, completely unaware of what was coming.

"I love you, so much." I took a deep breath. "I can't think of spending the rest of my life without you – just living without your kiss for the past thirty-nine days has been horrible, I couldn't imagine you not being there."

Susannah, thankfully, remained silent.

I took the opportunity to slide off my chair and down on one knee, taking out the box and flipping it open.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is," I cleared my throat. "Will you marry me, querida?"

Her mouth dropped open and the clatter of the spoon echoed around the otherwise silent dorm room.

"Jesse," she gasped, regaining her composure. "I don't know what to say."

Feeling stupid, I stood up again, still holding the ring out for her inspection.

She took the box from me and glanced at it curiously. The silence loomed.

"It's a beautiful ring," I saw her eyes sparkle, and I felt hope rise in my chest. "But … I can't."

The snap of the box swinging shut crushed my hopes and built up my embarrassment.

"Oh," I focused my gaze on the plate in front of me. "Any particular reason?"

The sparkle in her eyes, it turned out, were tears. Tears which now spilled over at ran down her cheek.

"Jesse," she insisted, standing up and wrapping her arms around me. "Don't get me wrong, I love you, I do."

"But?"

My heart was breaking slowly.

"But I'm only eighteen, Jesse." The tears glittered in the candlelight.

I extinguished the flame hopelessly. The mood had gone.

"I'm still too young," she insisted. "I can't settle down."

"Querida," I interrupted. "I'm young too, but I know – I _know_ – that this is the right decision for us. I love you."

"I love you too." She kissed the edge of my lip softly and lingeringly. "But I'm sorry, I have to go."

Dejectedly, I collapsed on the sofa as she went about collecting her things. I didn't know where she was going – I can only assume that it wasn't the nightclub.

I heard the door open and turned to look at Susannah halfway out of the door.

"Dearest one," I muttered.

She froze and glanced over her shoulder, her cheeks were tear-stained and her eyes were red.

"That's what querida means." The smile on my face was small, weak and filled with irony. "It means 'dearest one'."

Susannah smiled with equal enthusiasm – as in, with none at all – before nodding slightly in acceptance and leaving the room.

Leaving me.

I fought for the tears stinging my eyes to remain there; I fought for myself not to cry.

Sighing, I stood and walked towards the table, dirty plates littering the surface with a weeping candle in the middle and the blue ring box shut by Susannah's place.

I picked it up and put it in my pocket quickly, hiding it from my view.

I guess I should take it back now – I was getting no use from it.

Susannah didn't want to marry me.

And it hurt. More than I could describe.


	11. Day Forty

**A.N - Ok, bear with me here, please guys? It just came into my head as I wrote last chapter, and I wanted to roll with it. Just to kind of make things a bit different.**

**There is a method to my madness though. xD**

* * *

**Day Forty**

It was here.

The day was here that I was allowed to kiss Susannah. But she wasn't here for me to be able to kiss her.

My stupid proposal last night had scared her away and left me not knowing if we were even still in a relationship.

I had been woken up this morning by the sharp, shrill ringing of my cell phone before my sister had screamed down said cell phone, causing my head to pound.

"Hello?" I had answered the phone blearily.

"Jesse, what on earth did you think you were doing?" Marta shouted, snapping me into full consciousness and jumping awake in my bed.

"What?" I asked concerned. "What did I do?"

"You proposed to Suze!"

My heart instantly dropped.

"Oh, that."

"Yes," she was exasperated, I could tell. "That. What did you think I was on about?"

I opened my mouth to answer.

"You know what?" She cut me off. "Never mind. I've been up _all_ night comforting my best friend who is torn with the idea of marrying you or not."

"And what about me, Marta?" I insisted. "Don't you think I need 'comforting'? I bore me heart to the girl I love and was rejected. How did you think that made me feel?"

"Oh."

I shut my eyes and fell back down in my bed.

"Yeah," I repeated. "Oh."

After we hung up, I lay in the bed feeling sorry for myself. It was Sunday, which meant I had a family dinner to go to, no doubt filled with questions to do with the absence of Susannah.

Sighing, I picked up the ring box once again, hating it for causing me this pain and throwing it across the room angrily.

There was a timid knock on my door.

I stood up to answer it, not bothering with pulling a shirt over my naked chest. I was happy enough in the sweat pants I'd slept in.

Only, when I opened the door, I was wishing I had bothered with the shirt after all.

"Susannah!" I gasped, surprised, quickly glancing around to look for something to pull on quickly. "What are you doing here?"

"I needed to see you." Her voice was quiet and it scared me – she'd never spoken in that way to me before.

"I'm just going to go put something on …"

I trailed off, unsure of myself as I turned my back to her to raid my closet.

"Jesse, wait."

Her small, dainty hand closed around my wrist and the touch sent a jolt through me.

"Yeah?" I spoke slowly and cautiously, turning back around to face her.

"I just …"

"Yeah?" My voice was more hopeful this time as I took a step closer to her, and Susannah dropped her head back to look up at me.

My response was her hands sliding over my chest and locking behind my neck, playing with the curls of my hair that rested there. I locked my hands around her waist in retaliation as I leaned towards her, absorbing the moment.

My lips were about to touch hers for the first time in six weeks.

Susannah's eyes fluttered shut as her lips parted slightly and I smiled as I covered her lips with my own and kissed her. Her lips were soft as mine slid over them, the kiss exceeding everything I remembered as we spent the time in the open doorway, arms around each other.

Hope flared in my chest, as I hardly dared believe that she was here. My querida was in my arms once again. I could almost believe that last night hadn't happened.

That the past forty days hadn't happened.

But they had. And that was all too evident when we broke apart for air and tears were streaming down Susannah's face.

"Susannah?" I asked worriedly. "Querida?"

"Don't –" She broke off on a sob. "Call me that. Please, Jesse?"

Silently, I looked at her.

"Jesse?" She asked a moment later. "Jesse, please say something."

"Susannah," I spoke slowly again, barely able to comprehend what was happening. "Was that … goodbye?"

The fact that she didn't answer said it all.

I wrenched my arms from around her waist and took a step away from my apparently soon-to-be ex-girlfriend.

"Jesse," she shut the door quietly and walked towards me. "Listen, please. Try to understand … we can't stay together."

"But, querida," at her look, I corrected myself. "Susannah, we _can_. This, between us, doesn't have to be lost. I made a mistake, sure, I shouldn't have asked you to marry me, but –"

"No, Jesse." She spoke firmly. "We can't stay together. Do you have any idea how hard it would be? Us being together with me _knowing_ that you want more one day and me not knowing if I can give it to you?"

"I don't need anything more, Susannah," I stressed. "I can be happy with what we have."

"But I can't."

Her tears, which had stopped, came back again, twice as strong as before.

"I'm sorry Jesse," she choked out through her sobs. "I'm so sorry."

Sighing, I sat next to her and held her to my chest, stroking her hair as she cried. I'd never been one to let a girl cry.

And, as her tears began to soak through my shirt, I couldn't help but let tears of my own spill over, knowing, unbelievably, that this was the end.

* * *

_One Week Later_

I'd finally gotten round to taking back the ring. I'd ignored it the past seven days, instead focusing on my end of year exams and the break down of my relationship as a result of that box that I hadn't wanted to even look at it.

But I knew I couldn't put it off anymore, and it had to be taken back.

The embarrassment of having to admit a rejected proposal to the jeweller was evident in the redness of my cheeks.

I pushed the blue box towards the cashier, muttering a half hearted "I'd like to return this, please," as I did so.

The cashier looked at me knowingly, but said nothing, thankfully.

He inspected the box carefully, checking, I'm sure, to see if it was in a good enough condition to be returned. When I'd thrown it angrily across the room, nothing had been done to damage it. I'd checked.

I sighed as he flipped the ring box open, not wanting to see the object that had torn Susannah and I apart.

"Um, excuse me, sir?" The cashier was hesitant in speaking. "This box is empty."

Raising an eyebrow, I took the box back from him and looked inside. It was empty, as he'd said.

Surprisingly, I felt a smile itch at the corner of my lips.

"Sorry," I muttered. "My mistake."

The cashier nodded in acceptance and I left the shop, slipping the box back into my pocket and smiling openly as I did so.

Susannah had kept the ring.


	12. Three Years Later

**A.N - This is the end, my only friend, the end. Haha. I don't own that song. Don't even know who sings it.**

**But it is the end. Thank you so much for all of your reviews! I can't believe how much everyone seemed to love this story. Nevertheless, I had a great time writing it.**

**And now that it's over, I anticipate I'll have a great time writing _A Pirate's Life For Her_. I have two chapters already. Coming soon to a website near you. xD**

* * *

**Three Years Later**

Seeing Susannah again for the first time in three years was … well, it was perfect.

I was only there for Marta's graduation and, of course, that meant Susannah's college graduation too.

She still looked beautiful. She'd matured, that was for sure. Her hair was longer and styled whilst her make-up was toned down and made her look more natural. Her skin was tanned and shiny. And I realised that I hadn't stopped loving her.

The ceremony passed, much in the manner of my own, years ago and I watched as Susannah glided across the stage, happily accepting her diploma as she smiled out into the audience.

It was obvious when she first noticed me – her eyes widened and her hand reached up to touch a silver necklace she wore around her neck. I smiled widely as I applauded her loudly, proud of her.

After the ceremony, I congratulated my sister with a hug and a kiss to her forehead, before letting her socialise with her other friends and I turned around to find Susannah standing behind me, shocked.

"Jesse?" She asked. "What're you doing here?"

I gestured helplessly towards where my sister had disappeared in the crowd and shrugged sheepishly, running a hand through my hair.

"Family duties," I explained. "You looked – you _look _great."

"Thank you." She smiled gratefully. "You too. Do you, maybe, want to go and grab a cup of coffee?"

"Sure," I grinned. "Coffee."

* * *

_Three Days Later_

"I never forgave myself, you know?" Susannah admitted, curled up next to me as we watched a movie in my apartment. It was almost as if nothing had changed. "I didn't move on – I couldn't. I just kept comparing everyone to you." She paused before admitting, "And all of them came up short."

I smiled and kissed her temple.

"I am pretty unforgettable."

She laughed and the silver of her necklace glinted hopefully.

"Why did you keep the ring?" I asked quietly.

"I'm not sure," she shrugged sheepishly. "I think I just wanted a reminder of you. It didn't work out that way though."

Quietly, I waited for Susannah to continue.

"Every time I looked at the ring," she turned to look up at me, her emerald eyes just as sparkling as they always had been. "I just saw you. I saw your face as you proposed, as well as afterwards. When I …"

I nodded, not wanting to hear it.

"Eventually," she continued. "I realised that I … That I wanted to marry you, too."

I froze, unable to process her admission.

"I love you, Jesse." She ignored the television and kneeled beside me, hands cradling my face as she stared into my eyes. All I could see was her. "I always have, and I always will."

Smiling, I raised my hand to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear.

"I love you too, querida." She smiled at epithet, now she knew what it meant. "I never stopped."

Happily, Susannah wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me towards her, eager for our lips to be joined together once more.

It always felt right, kissing Susannah.

I'd missed it.

It wasn't long before I gently guided Susannah to lie down on the couch we were on, my body pinning hers down as we continued kissing languidly.

My hand buried in her hair and travelled through, reaching her neck and stroking the skin until I found the necklace that she had a habit of touching.

Breaking apart, I rested my forehead against hers, kissing her lips quickly another three times before I looked at the charm on the end of the necklace.

It was her engagement ring.

"I couldn't bear to part with it," she whispered. "I wanted you with me, always."

"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked, eyes boring into hers. "Get my number of Marta and ring me up … tell me all of this?"

"At first, I was too upset," she admitted. "Then I was angry – who were you to demand I marry you so young?" She laughed wryly. "When I finally worked up to calling you, Marta told me you had another girlfriend."

I gulped, remembering the few dates I'd gone on since Susannah and I had broken up.

"With Maria."

I closed my eyes as I realised what Susannah had thought.

"She and Paul had just broken up," I explained. "We were both upset and …"

"It's okay," Susannah smiled minutely. "I guess I kind of deserved it, for how I treated you."

I shook my head, dismissing her absurd reasoning.

"It's over now," I reminded her. "It's in the past. You are my future."

Susannah smiled before pulling me towards her and whispering in my ear.

"Ask me again."

Understanding her immediately, I unclasped the necklace she wore around her neck and slipped the ring off of it, kissing her quickly before slipping down onto my knee.

"Susannah," I kissed the inside of her left palm. "Querida, will you marry me?"

She nodded frantically, peppering kisses across my face as I slipped the ring onto the appropriate finger on her left hand.

"See, that was the response I wanted three years ago."

"I was young back then," she waved it away. "Stupid. Besides, it's in the past, remember?"

Laughing, I nodded before Susannah and I kissed happily, celebrating our new engagement.

* * *

Marta was just as excited as we were when we told her our news.

"About time!" She jumped up and hugged us both happily. "I almost throttled you when you turned him down, Suze!"

She blushed prettily.

"I don't know how many times I'm going to have to apologise for that."

She buried her face into my chest as I laughed.

"A lot," I told her apologetically. "Get used to saying it."

She glared at us both.

"So," Marta drawled. "When's the wedding."

Both Susannah and me looked at each other sheepishly.

"Well, er, actually," I stammered.

"Oh no." Marta gasped. "You eloped didn't you? You went to Las Vegas last night!"

"No, no, no," Susannah stressed. "Marta, no. Stop being so overdramatic. We were just thinking about getting married soon. As in the next three months soon. That's why we're here. Want to be my maid of honour?"

Needless to say, there was a lot more excited screaming from both girls.

* * *

_Two Months Later_

Susannah looked breathtaking with her tanned body encased in the white satin of her wedding dress and her hair elegantly curled and pinned back beautifully.

This was what I wanted.

What we both had always wanted.

I'd never been as happy as I was when I watched Susannah walk down the aisle towards me.

And, as Father Dominic – a friend to us both – pronounced us man and wife my heart practically exploded with happiness as we sealed our marriage – and our love – with a kiss.


End file.
